About as Subtle as a RHINO
by MyRegardstothereader
Summary: All he wanted was to be Kazekage, and now here is his chance! Gaara is going to prove himself to Sunakagure even if it kills him! With the helpful hands of his siblings, his mysterious bodyguard Neeko, and the beautiful, smart, and sarcastic Assistant Abbi, Gaara just might survive! Gaara's POV, GaaraXOC
1. Chapter 1

_About as Subtle as a **RHINO**_

_**A Gaara fanfiction**_

"The votes have been tallied. Sunakagure, the council has reached a decision with a help of your voting!"

I stood with my eyes closed and breathing as smoothly as I could. My red hair felt like it was truly on fire, along with my forehead, the head-ache growing in my skull was substantially bigger than it had been yesterday morning when the council went into full on debate mode. It was clear that they had a hard decision, but they didn't have to make it so obvious that they couldn't find enough good or bad on one person to decide. They had to spend hours and hours debating between myself and the tall Jonnin that stood beside me.

I had no grudges against the man, in fact I knew he had to be brave to face Sunakagure's monster for Kazekage. His name was Kirar, he was 29 years of age, long black hair, bright yellow eyes and two scars on his neck from an S-ranked mission gone wrong. However, the two of us were complete opposites of the spectrum. Kirar was raised a spoiled, completely loved brat, always had friends and won at everything with his pure might of fist. Kirar was loud mouthed, and to add to it, he had a habit of always having a new lady and a new liquor in his hand. Kirar, was though, without a doubt strong and politically forward.

I, Sabaku No Gaara, am 15 years of age and eligible for Kazekage. Not just that, they put my name in the hat without my having to. I wanted to be Kazekage, ever since Naruto and I fought and he told me his dream, I wanted to be just like him. But, unlike Kirar, I am quiet, internal, raised a spoiled, under loved brat who had no friends. I have no ability with women, and can't stand the smell of liquor or anything of that sort. However, I have a habit of saying exactly what I think, I'm not a political head, and I have a reputation for what I did… since before the Chunin exams.

The Council did have a hard decision, but the waiting and anxiety was getting to me. When I opened my eyes to the crowd, Temari and Kankuro stood right in front of me. Temari was nodding to me reassuringly, making gestures for me to breathe. Ever since I confessed to Kankuro my dream of being Kazekage, they have been more supportive than ever. My siblings were strange, our whole family was a bejubbled mess, but it was who we were and it was how we lived it. I caught the eyes of my brother, Kankuro, and rolled my eyes. He was giving me thumbs up and held a 'Pro-Gaara for Kazekage' Sign in each of his puppet's hands.

I let out a final breath as I looked up to the council, both Kirar and I looking to them expectantly. It was time, do or die.

That's when the head of the council stepped up to the microphone, looking the Kirar and myself. I readied myself for either answer. I was ready for whatever they decided was best. I just wanted my village to acknowledge me for who I was, to see who I truly was, and even if I didn't become Kazekage, if they saw me for me that's all I needed.

But I truly want to win!

"The Council, and the country has decided. The next Kazekage is…" There was dead silence as the head of council fumbled with a paper. Within seconds, a shout penetrated the loud sounds, waking us all up.

"ANNOUNCE THE WINNER ALREADY!" The council jumped and glared at the woman who screamed it. Looking with my eyes, I found it was my own sister, glaring right back and nearly strangling my brother with anticipation. Kankuro turned and shoved her off his shoulder with a huff before giving me a thumbs up.

I hung my head. Great, I was not going to win for my siblings would make me loose.

"The next kazekage is Sabaku No Gaara!"

I stopped dead in thought and looked up to the council, blinking. Did …. They…. Just….say my name? I looked to my siblings who had their mouths wide open with excitement, then my eyes turned to Kirar who looked to me with a sigh before turning and walking off the stage. When I looked back to the crowd, cheers and loud screaming erupted, forcing me to stumble a bit.

So many people were cheering… for me? I Forced my feet to pull me up to the stairs next to the platform Kirar and I had been standing on. My feet led me up to the stage where the Council all nodded to me, acknowledging me as I walked up to the head of the council. It felt so surreal. I was Kazekage. I had won, I was now the leader of my country.

Breath left my lips as if it shattered in my lungs and was trickling out of my lips. If I didn't need to breathe, I probably wouldn't have. The man turned to face me with his hand out. I stared at his hand, my own didn't seem to know what to do.

"Congradulations… Gaara." He whispered. My eyes traveled up to his aged face before I nodded, my hand finally finding it's way into his.

"Thank you…"

XXX

"GAARA! GAARA! GAARA!" There was chanting of my name as I nodded and shook hands just to get into my own house. Well… my soon to be house. The council had decorated the first floor of the large building, but the upstairs was just full of moving boxes. Within an hour of my acceptance of being Kazekage, Temari, Kankuro, and I had our old home packed up and were shuffled into the new home. All of us were to live in the building, on different floors and different ends of the house for security reasons. I was the hardest to get to, and they were on other sides, one floor up or down from me. Apparently there was only one other room on my hall, and that was to be the home of my new personal Assistant, which I haven't met, and didn't get to pick.

I just wanted to sit down and hear silence, just for a moment. That hope was crushed when I realized there was going to be an all night party in my honor in the house. Not that I minded parties, I don't care either way, but I am not a party person.

Even as Kazekage, and the party being hosted for me, I ended up shaking all the hands then standing against a wall with an empty cup of what was once a red kool-aid of sorts. It didn't have liquor in it, because it was specifically made for me, my siblings, and my personal assistant. WHOM I STILL HAVEN'T MET.

Maybe this whole Kazekage thing was a bad idea! I shouldn't have done this. But here I was, in the Kazekage uniform, no hat, standing against a wall. I was watching my siblings chat up the people in the party for me. Temari was glowing, talking to girls about this and that before selecting a few male candidates to dance with when the music blared loud, fast tempo-ed song. Kankuro was just enjoying talking to anyone and everyone. He even had a woman swoon over him and his puppet.

"Well, well… they told me you were a wall flower."

I took a deep breath and looked to the girl standing beside me with two glasses of red kool-aid. She smiled up at me before placing the cup she had in her left hand and placing it into the empty cup I had in my hand.

"What?" I asked, trying to speak over the music. She laughed, stepping up closer.

"They said you were a wall flower!" She spoke louder, pointing to Temari and Kankuro. I eyed them then looked to the girl who settled with me against the wall.

"Are you my assistant?" I stated as loud as I could.

"What?"

I huffed, and linked my hand with her elbow. She didn't jump in the slightest, and if it hadn't been absolutely necessary that I hear my own brain thinking, I wouldn't have lead her out of the main party room and into the hall.

I passed by a few dancers and both of us had to squeeze past a table and blocked doors to get to where I could actually hear myself talk. When I stood out in the hall, I instantly rubbed my ears with a sigh, my forehead already ringing.

"Can you hear anything?" she laughed, rubbing her left ear.

"Slightly." I stated, now pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Now… what did you ask?" I looked up to her as she lifted my hand off my nose to look me in the eyes.

"Are you my assistant?" I whispered. My ears were starting to adjust, and I wanted to sip my kool-aid she had given me, but I didn't know if she was my assistant or just some random girl who actually, of her own free will, decided to talk to me. Wait, no, that ruled out, she had to be my assistant.

"Yes. My name is Abbi Miru… um, hold on." She then slipped her hand into the top of her dress and I blinked confused, until she pulled out a small I.D. case that she showed me. There on it was her Suna I.D., picture and all, along with a sticker that allowed her into the Kazekage building, and into my house. It was official, I had met my Personal assistant.

"Sorry, about putting it in my boobs… I don't have a purse that goes with this dress and I was running late to get here." She stated, sliding the card back into her dress top. I looked away before looking back and getting a good look at her.

Abbi Miru had a deep black with some red hair, and bright almost lillac eyes, a straight nose with freckles that crossed over the bridge of her nose. She stood at the same height as me with her black heels, and she wore a blue dress that was a strange light color. It didn't have sleeves, but it did cover her well and I didn't take her for a slut at all.

"Gaara." I whispered.

"Well Gaara, please have fun. I just wanted to meet you face to face before tomorrow. I have to go make face talk with the council, and set up some stuff for tomorrow." She spoke with a smile, turning to walk away.

"Wait." She stopped and looked to me with a tilted head and quirked brow. "What happens tomorrow?" I asked.

"All hell breaks loose, to put it subtly. .. Get a good nights rest, if you can." She flashed a smile before walking forward, right into linking arms with a council man and directing him towards the front door, talking to him the second she caught on to him.

But what she said… all hell breaking loose… was about as subtle as a rhino…

Great.

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><p>Author's Notes:<p>

This story has been stewing in my brain for a bit, so when I updated Food fit for a KING, I decided it was time to put this puppy on paper/word document. Tell me what you think? Healthy criticism is welcome, and I hope to have a second chapter out soon!

My regards to the reader!


	2. Chapter 2

_About as Subtle as a **RHINO**_

_**A Gaara fanfiction**_

Gaara Pov- Humor/Romance/Adventure

* * *

><p>Chapter two:<p>

The sunrise was glittery against the gold sand. Everything was lighting up like a fire coming back to life, the city was still quiet, however. The busy city that was Suna was still sleeping, just for a few moments. I could practically repeat the sequence as it happened, seeing it hundreds of times every year. First the bakery down the main street would open his doors and sweep out nightly sand and dust before the smell of his sweet bread would begin to roam the streets. Then the florist would walk tiredly from her front door to the coffee shop just unlocking the door. The florist would then buy coffee and go about watering her garden. Just as all her flowers awoke to their daily morning shower, the city would stretch and wake all of its members.

Training ninja's in the new academy would shuffle through the town towards the large building on the far right side of the city. Men and women of the council, higher ups in the government, their assistants, and all the low people of the muckity-muck that was the Suna's ninja government would file into the council building. Everyone looked drained, their feet dragged through the sand.

At least they slept. Had I been able to sleep, I wouldn't have slept either way. I sat on the roof, hands placed lightly against the roof tiles, my mind moving a mile per minute. The announcement still rang in my head. The cheers, the streamers, my name being shouted loudly, it never felt right. Never once had any of these people considered me worthy of them, and now, they wanted me as their Kazekage.

"Kazekage…"

I hadn't said the word out loud. It scratched my skin and forced a shiver down my back.

I wanted this! This was all I ever wanted. But what the hell did I know about being Kazekage? What skills did I have in politics? I didn't know how to win over a crowd with my words; I didn't know how to get people to follow. I am a ninja, what the hell qualifies ME, Sabaku no Gaara as Kazekage!

I growled and ran a hand through my sand covered hair. Not 24 hours into my term and I already doubted myself!

"Gaara?"

I looked from the sleepy town of golden sand in front of me to the windowsill of my room. The voice came from inside my room. With a sigh, I pushed off the sand stone tiles and into the air. Sand wrapped around me like a warm embrace, the sand licked my skin and engulfed me only to drop me onto the hard stony floor of my room.

"There you… have you even showered?" Abbi stood in the room with her hands crossed over her chest, arms full of papers and a clipboard. Her hair was freshly cleaned and pulled back into a bun, her clothes pressed, when did she have the time?

"It's just now sunrise…" I whispered. For no reason, I felt idiotic for not even considering getting an early start. She stood a few steps from me as she situated the papers on her clipboard with a sigh. I watched her for a moment before she looked at me with confusion.

"Well?" She spoke, her eyes questioning me. "Are you going to take one on your own? I'm your assistant, Lord Kazekage, and I'm not afraid to strip you and force you into the shower. We've got a swearing in ceremony in 30."

I blinked before I jumped from the spot and rushed to the bathroom connected to my room. However, I stopped in the doorway as I looked back. Abbi stood right behind me with expectant eyes and a gentle shove into the bathroom.

Was she really going to stand in the bathroom?

The awkwardness set into my bones as she set her clipboard on the counter and left the door wide open. She shuffled the papers on the board; her eyes stopped and looked to me.

"Are you getting in?"

I looked at her flabbergasted.

What had I gotten into?

Father never talked of his assistants or anyone else from his work. I was in over my head just by the thought that this woman I barely knew expected me to strip down in front of her. She stood with her hands on her hips and a stern look.

Only Temari and Kankuro stood within punching distance of me, but this woman stepped up to me and reached out to take the wrap off my chest. I jumped back, sand shot up to her hands. I did it without thinking, it was just pure reaction, the sand grabbed her hands and tightened around her wrist. The moment I saw the sand that held her, I dropped it and stood still.

Great!

I just attacked my assistant, she was going to quit and I would be alone. I screwed everything in a matter of moments. Idiotic, I was just as bad as Kankuro!

"Okay, I'll take it you're not good with touching?" Abbi asked.

I couldn't hold it in.

I chuckled.

She wiped her hands off on a towel and grumbled about sand in between her fingers, but not once did she look at me with fear. In fact, she stood and looked at me expectantly.

"Look, if you're not going to let me do it, just get in the shower. I will fetch your robes, but make the shower quick; we now have…24 minutes!"

I watched anxiously as she turned and left the bathroom. In the seconds it took her to leave the doorway, I ripped my clothes off with the help of my sand and threw myself into the shower, the curtains pulled closed and clipped to the wall. Not exactly afraid of her returning, but not exactly unafraid of her returning and I was unwashed. The shower was stocked full of cosmetics and soaps, the water was perfectly cold, and my muscles relaxed the moment I began to rinse out my hair. My soap was light and smelt of clean laundry. I sighed as I ripped the water off and went to unclip the shower.

"Hold on, let me turn around!"

I hadn't heard Abbi return. My blood ran cold at the thought of her seeing me naked. Not that I didn't find myself attractive, well, I didn't exactly like myself, but that didn't mean…

"18 minutes."

"I'm getting out!" I called back as I snatched a towel off the wall and whipped it around my hips. I swore the moment I had it tied, she turned and smiled. Water still dripped off me but it didn't seem to faze Abbi in the least. This woman sat on my toilet with the seat down and legs crossed with the board in her hand.

"Okay, schedule for today…" She put my robes on the side table closet to me. While she looked down, I pulled another towel to dry myself off. For the love of any sanity I had left, I hoped that time to myself be on that schedule.

"Once we're done here, you're heading to the main square fountain for the ceremony, then to the office to sign all the contracts. That will be fun. Then about 9:00, if we're lucky, you get breakfast at a local diner. Then at 10:00 you and I will do a meet and greet of the Jonnin and your new body guard slash head of security. Then at 11:30 you are doing a small speech for the academy and gennin level ninja at the academy. At noon-" I cut her off.

"When do I get to blink?" I blurted out.

"Funny," She snorted. I glowered at her but she didn't even look up from the clipboard. I reached for the clothes to take into the room but Abbi only stood up and turned away from me. I stopped glowering at her.

"Then at noon you get lunch with your siblings. Then at 1:30 we are meeting up with the council to discuss the economy and government. Then at 3:00, if the old bats don't talk too much, we go to your office and get to work." She spoke. I furrowed my brows as I pulled my boxers on and stripped of the towel. I just managed to pull on my pants when she turned around to me with another towel and brush in hand.

"So the stuff prior to the work, wasn't work?" I snickered. Abbi put the clipboard down and her hands went back to her hips. How did she do it? I could handle missions, and I could handle deadly men. The thought of my schedule for the day ate at my confidence. What had I gotten into?

"Gaara, why did you want to be Kazekage?" She asked blantantly. I cocked my nonexistent brow, "Tell me, seriously, why do you want this?"

"Because…" I trailed off as my eyes drifted to the towel in my hand. "I want people to see there is more to me than a monster. That I can rebuild this nation to be what it was meant to be. I can make the other nations see that we're more than what they think, and that I'm more than just my demon."

The look on Abbi's face, she smiled. She nodded and smiled as she looked to her clipboard. I stood still as she took the towel from my hands and dabbed my forehead, drying up the water from my hair.

"Well then, you do that. You do what you think this nation needs to make it what you promise it can be. I'm here to make sure the public is on board; the council doesn't mess things up, and talk to other countries. I've been doing politics my whole life, you're what we need in a leader… I'm here to keep you organized and sane… well… as sane as you can be…"

I rolled my eyes.

A crazy joke and it's only just now sunrise.

X!Gaara!X

"Are you sure you don't want to stay?" Temari asked as Abbi smiled and shook her head.

"No, I've got to unpack a few more things, and then I have a ton of my own paperwork to do." She shrugged. "Besides, I think Gaara wants a few minutes away from me as it is."

I looked at Abbi. Me? I was the one who wanted her away?

"I don't care…" I mumbled but my mind shouted otherwise. The whole day if Abbi hadn't been by my side, I would have blown. So many people with so many wishes, everyone wanted something from me and I had no time to think. There were a few council members I was close to attacking if Abbi hadn't been there.

"Anyway, I will be in your office when you're done… remember, be back by 1:20." With that, she was off and I was barely able to keep my head up. At this point, I felt as if my feet would just crack and shatter into a million pieces and my stomach growled more than I liked. I was now in one of my kazekage's uniforms barely able to drag the long outfit with me.

If I was able to sleep, now would be an amazing time to sleep. My whole body ached, my head whirled and I don't believe I was alive during the last half-hour. I had been giving a speech that Abbi had to write for me.

"Wow… she's run you ragged." Kankuro snickered. I turned my face so I could glare at him before I flopped my forehead back against my wrists. I didn't even have the energy to frighten my brother!

"Well, at least you have an hour before you have to do anything…" Temari stated, patting my elbow. I let out a sigh and found a way to nod without too much movement. If I weren't so hungry, I'd probably just skip lunch and go back to my room to lie down.

"Hello… what can I get you three for lunch?" I lifted my head to our waitress who didn't seemed phased at all that the Kazekage and his two siblings were in her section, or that the kazekage was laying his head on her table. She smiled and held her notepad up to take our order, when her eyes went right to me slouched and ready to sleep.

"Coffee for you?" She asked, looking to me directly. A woman who spoke my language! My body ached as I opened my mouth to answer

"The largest you can get me." I spoke, not even feeling the words pass my lips. The more my bones moved, the heavier they became. The toughest was the council, the constant bickering over just a tiny slip of paper. No, wait, being insulted by my own ninja who sat in wait for 30 minutes before I was allowed to see them, that was the worst. The children were a breeze compared to the men and women who were supposed to protect me but only saw me as a demon child.

"I'll take an apple juice." Temari spoke, her eyes darted from the menu to my lumped form.

"Same." Kankuro chuckled, looking at me. My hand flipped the menu open lightly as I attempted to make a decision what I wanted. I needed something full of protein and lots of vegetables. Lots of them!

"And are we ready to order?" She woke me up. I blinked and saw it. There was a kabob plate with chicken, and pork with lots of vegetables and pita bread.

"Kabob." I mumbled, with a finger pointed to the item. I looked to the waitress who wrote it down and looked to Temari expectantly. Kankuro just laughed as quietly as he could, and I was sure it was at me. I could imagine I looked horrendous.

"I'll have the berry and sugar cane vinaigrette salad." She groaned, slapping Kankuro on the head with the menu before she handed over the menu to the girl. I glared at him one more time with the most energy I could, and felt victorious when he bit his lip and muted himself to order.

"The Pork filled pitas" He spoke through his tight lips, trying not to laugh. The waitress nodded and took up the menus. I sighed and laid my head back down on top of the table. It was so cold! Amazingly, comfortingly, wonderously cold, and my cheek pressed against it.

"Kankuro, can you be more immature?" Temari hissed. I looked up to Temari with a cocked brow.

"Do you want him to show you? Or was that a rhetorical question?" I stated bluntly with a yawn.

"Yea!" I put my hand up, as best as I could, as Kankuro slapped it with a high-five. Temari pursed her lips ad crossed her arms over her chest. I could tell she wanted to say something to us but she held her tongue and rolled her eyes. There was a small silence as I laid there in bliss. Even the restaurant was cold and quiet, as if they all knew the headache that grew in my skull. How was I going to survive the rest of the day?

I hoped it was easier after today. I begged for it to be.

"So Gaara, can I ask… how does it feel?" I turned my head to Kankuro who smirked at me. I looked to my robes then back up to him. I could have answered him with sarcasm; it was just spewing out of me today. However, I sighed and scratched my head.

"Hard…"I mumbled as I pushed myself off the table. "We have no ninja and those we have hate me."

"Is it what you expected?" Temari asked.

"It's nothing what I expected… it's harder to just follow in his footsteps. But now, I have to not only succeed father, I have to surpass him."

I kept my eyes on the table as there was dead silence at the booth. Then I looked up to Kankuro. His eyes were in his lap as he leaned back into the booth. Temari did as well, biting on the inside of her cheeks and her fingers fidgeting with the sleeves of her dress. Father, what a touchy subject for the three of us?

Damn him!

"It's weird… having you as the kazekage." Temari whispered. She placed her hands on the table before we locked eyes.

"It's strange being Kazekage." I added. We all looked to the empty table in front of us. Silence passed, even after our drinks were delivered silently and we sipped lightly. I tried to keep from chugging the large coffee cup of java.

"But… look at the bright side." Kankuro blurted out. I looked up from my coffee to my brother who shrugged. "Now we get to eat at all the places we couldn't afford at before on a ninja salary." Kankuro smirked as the waitress came back with a giant platter holding all our food. I rolled my eyes but, I could feel a ghost of a smile pierce my lips as my kabobs came steaming in front of me.

"And we can get as much as we want. Thank you, free meal and board Kazekage package!" Kankuro added.

* * *

><p>Author's notes:<p>

And so it begins! I'm re-doing every chapter and continuing on the story. If you like Food fit for a king, you're going to love this one!

Thank you all who love this story, and please be patient for the next chapters!

With love,

Myregardstothereader.


	3. Chapter 3

_About as Subtle as a **RHINO**_

GaaraXOC Fanfiction

* * *

><p>Chapter three:<p>

"I loathe paperwork." Abbi grumbled, laying her head on her palm while looking to the scroll I was also looking at. I have never known anyone to want to sit so close to me, but Abbi just volunteered as if it were nothing. She even had a special chair ordered for her to sit in, one with wheels and was soft enough to sleep in. My was bigger, and it allowed me to stretch out in. Infact I could fit Abbi in the seat with me if I would allow her, but that might be too close. I had enough with the sudden turning my world upside down. Abbi also was wearing glasses, black framed reading glasses and was nibbling on her pen while looking to the scroll.

"Break?" I suggested, looking to the woman sitting next to me. She looked to the clock on the wall with a sigh and nodded. It was around midnight and we still hadn't finished all the paperwork for the first day. The council said this was the most amount of paper work I would have to do but that begged the question, what did they consider a lot?

"Definitely a break, my glasses are starting to irritate my eyes." She grumbled, taking off the glasses and rubbing her eyes. I leaned back into my chair and laid my head back. My hands felt like they would just crumble off like wet sand.

"Is this the job?" I asked, looking to Abbi. She looked up from her palms and then to the paper.

"It's most of it, the politics on paper. This, however, isn't a lot compared to the officials and council members I used to assist. I once had to help a council member go through a stack of paper taller than I was. And that was just one law they were trying to pass." She added, running her hand over her pulled back hair. Abbi pulled her pony-tail scrunchy out of her hair and began to shake out her hair. "Neeko? Ne…Damn"

I looked to the lounge chair in the room where the tall man in the black ninja wear had fallen asleep. I chuckled, laying my hands on top of my head. Neeko, my new body guard and head of security. I was the Kazekage, one of the most powerful people in the world, but the council still hired a man to protect me. Neeko wasn't a talker, Neeko didn't have a family that I knew of, and Neeko was once apart of the Sunakagure Anbu Black ops. Plus, he had a dry sense of humor and sarcasm that I enjoyed. The moment I met him this morning I knew he would be perfect to work with.

"Slacker." Abbi laughed.

"Worn out slacker." I added with bemusement. The man was just sunk into the lounge chair, head against the arm rest, and he was gone to the world. I looked to Abbi who pursed her lips at her glasses and shoved them back onto her face.

"Come on, this is the last scroll, if we get it done fast we can still get some sleep time in. Besides, you don't have to be awake till 9 tomorrow." She added, looking back up to me. I eyed her before sighing and looking to the scroll. She was right, the sooner this scroll was read through, edited, and sent out, the sooner we could relax.

My eyes scanned the paragraph in front of me, my hands holding the pen as best as they could. I could feel them cramping up quickly, but I needed to finish this. The scroll was for a better water/irrigation system. The city was going through a drought and last years plan didn't exactly work. This whole plan was using the lake that somehow survived in the desert, drawing a line from there than splitting that line into several that would travel to the main points that we needed water. To the utilities, to the food, and to the shops. The plan was to limit the water, to only draw some at certain times and warn the people of limits and have them change their schedules until the monsoon. I was hoping for the monsoon to come soon, I hated the rain but it was for the village and we needed the rain badly.

I began to scratch out this and that and edit it with something else, letting out a sigh. Two more paragraphs to go.

"Gaara, do you actually sleep?" Abbi blurted out, not looking up from the scroll. I let my eyes look to her from the corner of my eye then back to the paper.

"No. I can't." I spoke.

"And I'm a light sleeper." Abbi jumped and looked to Neeko still laying absolutely still. "and I'm not a slacker, I'm just resting."

I could see Abbi scowl and go back to the scroll with a glare, and I wanted to see amusement on Neeko's ever stone cold face, but nothing. It seemed like he never even spoke. I chuckled to myself, and looked back to the irrigation scroll, intending to finish soon. I wanted a break till morning when I could expect an even more hectic day.

Too bad I wouldn't get what I wanted. The poor scroll would have to be dealt with later. Because, the second silence was resting in the room, a giant explosion went off in the city, rattling the floor beneath me. Jumping to my feet, Neeko in suit, I rushed to the window and looked out to my city. There in the street was a mass amount of people shouting and holding torches. The shouting was suddenly getting louder as my eyes caught a building off to the side on fire, people screaming and running from it.

"What is that?" Abbi called to Neeko who was instantly pulling on his vest and holding a Kunai.

"A riot!" He snarled.

"Where are you going… WHERE DO YOU TWO THINK YOU'RE GOING?" Abbi screamed after me and Neeko. The second he said riot I was rushing towards the door of the office room. I had to settle my people down, I needed to get this riot under hand. Neeko was just beside me, not saying a word. I didn't look back, but I soon heard the sound of Abbi phoning/waki-talking to all the ninja heads to warn of the riot going on in the town square.

Neeko came bursting out of the building, kunai and one hand sword ready. The cork in my gourd flew out as it came swirling through sand at me in my Kazekage uniform. Abbi was going to have to buy me a new one after this.

"GET THE KAZEKAGE!" The crowd began to scream as I stood in front of a giant crowd of people pointing their torches at me. The smell of liquor began to absorb the air around me and Neeko as we stood our ground to the drunken uproar.

"Protect lord Kazekage!" Suddenly, ninja came flying off the roof top and landing around me.

"I can defend myself! Go check the buildings! They're burning!" I demanded but they didn't move. "THAT'S AN ORDER!" I shouted, my voice growing louder than it ever had as the rioting mob grew closer to me.

These were my people, I had only been Kazekage officially for one day and I was already being attacked! I should have know that the whole city wouldn't be comfortable with me being Kazekage. The fire was growing warm against the cool night air as my sand began to crawl from my gourd and around my feet.

"Kazekage, we have to protect you!" The ninja called back.

"Protect the people first!" I hissed, "Go!"

"Hai!" In seconds, have the team was split up and running to the burning building and to the one story building that had crumpled. I watched them leave before turning to the other half that had stayed by my side then to the people threatening Neeko, the ninja, and I with torches and drunken slurs.

"Neeko, take the ninja and take the torches from them but do not hurt them." I spoke, stepping up closer to the crowd. Neeko and the ninja grew tense but when I crossed my arms, sand swirling behind me, they nodded.

In a blur, my sand and my ninja had snatched every torch from the mob, leaving them motionless and shocked, most of them stumbling to keep standing.

"PEOPLE OF SUNA!" I snapped, catching their attention. "It has come to my attention, some of you are upset with my becoming Kazekage." I added.

"YOUR DAMN RIGHT, YOU MONSTER!"

"YOU NEARLY KILLED MY DAUGHTER!"

I clenched my fists, trying to keep my cool as I let out a huff of air through my nose. This would be a whole lot harder than I imagined. I knew this would happened, but nothing makes a better plan than just winging it. So I unscratched my face and put out my hands. They all flinched for a moment until they saw me put my hands down.

"You're angry at me, then why take out your anger on them!" I hissed, pointing to the building where I found one of my ninja extracting a body. It was a smaller, more fragile body, like that of a child, almost teen.

"Her family voted for you! They voted in a monster!" a voice called out, shakey and unsure.

"So you would take that child's blood on yourself, all because of your pride!" Neeko barked, snapping his sword back into its seethe on his back.

"It's the honor of Sunakagure were protecting! This monster will only destroy us!"

Honor? They were protecting Sunakagure's honor? I looked to the sand then up to the crowd that had fallen silent. I took a step closer to the crowd, watching the majority of them stumble back, the rest flinch. Their unstable feet took most of them to the ground, an unfortunate few fell to their faces.

"Honor? Honor killed a child! Honor just killed a family and probably injured more! Honor has no place here, if you all say you've acted on the honor of Sunakagure…" I shook my head, "This is not the city that I vowed to keep safe…" I took three steps back. I grabbed my gourd and threw it over my shoulder, crossing my arms and glaring at the mob.

"Gaara…" I turned to see Temari and Kankuro rushing out of the building, weapons in tow, "What… what's going on."

"A mob of drunks with a sick sense of pride…" Neeko whispered, looking dead at me. "My lord Kazekage, what would you have us do with them?"

I looked to the mob in front of me. Half of them were fallen on the ground, the other half stubbornly standing their ground, ready for a fight. I should have them locked up, all forced to live the sentence of how many were killed. But then a chunk of the people would be gone, and I had too many enemies as it was. Besides, I knew the next morning, there would be a funeral, and the city torn into halves by my being Kazekage would not set the tone the family deserved at their funeral.

I had to be stern… but, these were my people, and I wanted them to love me.

"Put the incoherent ones in jail for drunk in public, and the others… let them go, they've ruined enough for one night." I stated and turned on my heel, storming right back into the building. I had one more scroll to finish to be caught up on them all and this 'mob' had already killed all the time I had.

X-X-X-

"Abbi?" I called out from my bathroom, knowing full and well that she was out in my room getting stuff ready for me. The door of my bathroom opened as I stood there drying my hair, wearing atleast the boxers and pants she set out for me to wear underneath the uniform she had made to make up for the one that was covered in ash and sand from last night.

"Alright, let me see!" She smiled, standing in front of me with her purse and clip board in hand. Quickly ruffling my hair, she looked at my face with a smile before plopping herself down on the toilet she made sure had the lid down.

Last night when I came back in, she didn't say anything, only sit down next to me in the office and help get the scroll done. Within an hour, it was finished and Neeko popped in to tell me everything was in order and people were taking care of the happening outside. Only 10 people were put into jail to sober up, the others were put into the random mass of people aiding to fix the damages, so only the people who did the damage knew they had done it.

"Okay, schedule for today. Due to last nights events, we've had a little change in plans." She stated. Her eyes down to her clip-board, she pulled out note cards and flipped a page over to it's back. "The council wants you to do a speech about what happened last night, then we're doing an appearance at the funeral. Then we're having lunch with the families of the hurt and injured to keep their support. Then we're going to a meeting with the council about what their rules are. Then you and Neeko are going to go scout the town and offer help with anything you deem worthy to help with… Try not to get this uniform dirty." she looked up from the clip board with suspicious eyes. I shrugged it off, walking to the towel rack where my tunic top was waiting to be put on.

"Wait…" I stopped and looked at her oddly, "Speech… I didn't write a speech." I pulled my tunic over my shoulders. I tied it around my waist, pulling it comfortably tight as she handed over the kazekage robes from the sink.

"I know, which is why I wrote you one! Now, this will be the last one I write for you by myself!" She explained, putting the few cards on the sink and standing up. I watched her straighten out her skirt and her blouse before pointing at them, "Read them over… I'll go get us breakfast." With a smile, she walked away.

Eyeing the cards, I pulled the robes over my head and let them flow to the ground around my feet. Looking into the mirror, I let out a sigh at the robes. Just because of these stupid robes, 3 adults were dead, one small child, and two teenagers. Because of me, my people were up in arms and forming drunken mobs in the middle of the night. I ran a hand through my hair, my other hand grasping the cards.

So much was done because of or for me. These cards, she wrote my speech for me. How long did it take her to do that? Did my assisstant/secretary/god of schedules stay up all night instead of sleeping because of me. I could live without sleep, but she ran on it.

Just then a knock came on my bathroom door, ripping me from my trance.

"Gaara?"

I looked from the mirror to Kankuro standing into the doorway.

"This is going to be a stupid question… but are you okay?" He asked, looking at me. I slapped the cards in my hands and headed for the door, squeezing past him and into my room.

"Yes, it is a stupid question." I stated, looking at him, "I'll be okay once I get breakfast." I smirked at him as Kankuro rolled his eyes at me.

"Hey! I'm sorry it took me so long to get breakfast, but you don't have to complain." I jumped to Abbi standing in my doorway with a tray of breads, fruits, meats, and drinks. "Geez, you men are so demanding!" She laughed, setting the tray on the bed.


	4. Chapter 4

_About as Subtle as a **RHINO**_

A GaaraXOC Fanfiction, Gaara POV

* * *

><p>Chapter four:<p>

"So…" Temari whispered, sitting on the couch. A pad of paper in her hand, her hair let down and her legs crossed Indian style on the soft leather couch. I lay on the floor, my robes flung over a chair behind me. I hadn't meant to disrupt my siblings planning for the next day's training session of her students. Temari had a four man group, a medic ninja stuck in for good measure. Not really, the council said that to cover it up for the fact we didn't have many medic ninja and they wanted her to be trained by the best.

But I came storming in, ripping the robe off my body and chucking it onto the chair before swiveling and planting myself on the floor. I spread out my arms and legs, staring blankly at the ceiling. Temari let me have a moment, not saying anything and waiting for me to start up the conversation first. I didn't blame her for waiting, for 15 years of her life she knew that trying to talk to me first would only get her death glares and death threats. But the last year or so, I had changed with my siblings… but old habits did die hard. Also it didn't help I had a horrible night and day.

"So…" I mumbled back, looking to the ceiling still. Temari rolled her eyes in my peripheral, but I didn't say anything else. What was there to say? I had the day of all days! It was all over the news, and people talked about it constantly. I went from funeral to funeral, lunch-in's, open casket viewings, jail cells, building reconstruction, everything that I could go see to remind myself my village hated me, I went to see. I let out a huff and closed my eyes.

"What did the slave driver make you do today?" Temari joked.

"The slave driver kept the kazekage from getting his ass chewed out by the council!"

I snapped opened my eyes to watch Abbi come shuffling through the room, dropping a newspaper next to me before dropping herself on the couch. Temari laughed, dropping her legs down to the floor, looking right at my assistant.

"Sorry Abbi…" She stated, still laughing. Abbi looked up from her clipboard, glasses on her face and she tilted her head with a cocked brow.

"For what? I am a slave driver, how do you think I got this job?" Abbi stated with all seriousness. Her face was plain, like it was a statement of absolutely no value before looking back to her clipboard. There I could see the shadow of a smile as she continued to scribble. Temari eyed her before looking to me. I looked right at my sister, watching her point and mouth the words 'is she for-real?'.

"Yes, I'm for real Temari…" Abbi stated, flipping over a page and continuing to read and scribble. Temari's jaw dropped and I couldn't help but smirk at her.

"What? Did you also minor in reading lips?" Temari sneered at Abbi, taking offense to her being caught. I rolled my shoulders to watch this whole scene panning out, this was the most uplifting conversation that had been said around me all day. Also, I was enjoying my know-it-all sister being attacked by Abbi, my… I don't have a title.

"Yes, and I got my bachelorette in sarcasm." Abbi looked up right at Temari with a smart smirk, "Any other dumb questions?" I joked down what felt like laughter as Temari huffed. My blond sister flipped her right leg over her left and went back to her notes. Abbi went back to her clipboard, ripping off a page and sticking it underneath other things before grabbing another parchment and slipping it infront of Temari.

Temari furrowed her brows before scribbling on the parchment and shoving it onto Abbi's Clipboard. I watched as this continued, Abbi writing something in her soft, light scribble before handing it to Temari to read and write hard on it. Soon, after a while of silence, they began to giggle as they passed it back and forth.

I furrowed my brow at them both. What were they doing? Passing notes? I slowly got to my knees to come and see what they were writing when Abbi quickly tucked the paper away in the abyss of her clipboard.

"Can't I know?" I asked, looking at them. Temari looked up from her notes to Abbi then to me, she shook her head.

"Confidential." Abbi reported with a smile at Temari. I glared at them both before laying right back to where I was. I didn't even want to know, anyway. Whatever womanly conversation they were having didn't even faze me. I was the Kazekage, I had far more important things to think of.

"Gaara," Abbi interrupted my thoughts. I flicked my eyes to her. She pushed her glasses up her small nose and cocked a brow at me, "Paper…Read." She pointed at it.

"Why?" I asked, looking to the Sunakagure newspaper lying beside my shoulders.

"Because it will keep you informed." Neeko blurted out of nowhere, appearing in the doorway. Abbi jumped before glaring at the man, while Temari just snickered and continued her business. I looked to Neeko then the newspaper. I didn't want to read what I already knew. All they were going to write about was last night and what happened.

"I know what they wrote about." I whispered, continuing to lay there unmoved.

"You'd be surprised who likes you in this village, Gaara." Temari perked up, placing her notes down. I sighed before snatching up the paper. I didn't really want to read this paper but if they all continued to pester me, I guess I will have to at some point. I pulled it towards my face and there on the front was myself. Of course! However, just as I was going to tell them my thoughts, something caught my interest. It was me shaking the hand of the head of Council, confetti and people cheering in the background.

_GAARA! GAARA AS KAZEKAGE! _ The head line read and I furrowed my brow, there were two columns of text, a picture on the left and on the right. On the left was me at the party shaking hands with people, Temari and Kankuro next to me. On the right was Abbi by my side, talking to me as we walked through the town.

_Gaara, the all-powerful, all fearless has become our new leader! _ The smaller headline brought my eyes to its attention. My eyes began to devour the text, reading over how the coronation went, my speech, the small things I had already done. For once, I was so interested in what others were saying about me. The paper, it was talking about me, and it wasn't cursing me for being alive!

X-X-X-X-

"Kazekage-san?" I looked up from my food in the restaurant. It was our waitress from the last time my siblings and I had eaten here. She wasn't in uniform, and she even looked upset. She had red around her eyes and her nose was pink along with her cheeks, I could see the stain of tears on her cheeks. I eyed her face before looking to her hands that were pulling at each other. She was nervous as she stood there in front of me.

"Yes?" I asked. She gulped down hard, bringing more curiosity to my mind. I even slid out of the booth to stand in my robe, facing the girl. She was still crying and trying to say something but it wasn't coming out. I could feel the awkward feeling in my stomach rising, how did I calm a crying woman? I didn't even know how to calm a crying person, I didn't even know how to calm myself from crying. I didn't cry much, but when I did, I didn't truly know how to fix my emotions. Now, I was faced with a woman, in tears, with something on her mind.

I opened my mouth to speak only for gasps to ring out as something that had never happened, happened to me. This woman waitress flung her arms around my torso and pressed her wet, tear stained face into my shoulder, gripping me hard. I blinked, my hands shaking, my head shooting to my siblings who were just as slack jawed and shocked as everyone else. NO! They needed to not be in shock because I wanted to be in shock! I didn't know what to do, and now the only people who would tell me what to do were just staring right back at me like snow appeared in Suna.

"Thank you…" The girl whispered, trembling against me. I blinked, patting her on the back lightly and trying to look at the waitress still clinging to me. I was still at a loss for words as I blinked at her holding onto me.

"Thank you…" She pulled back, looking at me in the eyes, "For letting him go. My father was drunk, and didn't know what he was saying or doing… I promise he didn't mean to hurt those people, he was just drunk and angry and needed someone to blame. Thank you, for letting my father and the others go." She whispered, biting her lip.

"I…" I trailed off, looking her over before looking to my siblings who finally came to life. They were waving their hands for me to continue what I was saying.

"I... I couldn't punish the acts of a drunk man." I whispered, eyeing her as she stood there between crying more and smiling. "All I want is my country is to prosper." I added, swallowed hard on my own saliva. That's when more tears formed in her eyes and I could feel more panic in my chest then awkwardness in my abdomen. But just as I went to try and say something else, she flung herself around me one more time before rushing back from my arms, running towards the door where I saw a man standing.

I could see his face from here, there was pain and regret as his daughter came crying into his arms. He wrapped her in his arms while he looked right at me. A sigh escaped his lips before he nodded at me, a fleeting smile on his lips and the two shuffled out of the dinner.

It was easy to feel my legs trembling more and more as I forced myself to sit back down to eat my dinner.

"Gaara?" I looked to Kankuro who grinned at me, "If you have any more fans coming by, can I just eat your lamb-chops and cherry rice?"


	5. Chapter 5

_About as Subtle as a **RHINO**_

A GaaraXOC Fanfiction, Gaara POV

* * *

><p>Chapter five:<p>

"Knocking would be nice…" I grumbled, looking up from my desk as a few of the council stood in front of me with my old sensei. Baki looked right at me with a small smirk on his lips, attempting to keep from chuckling at the scorn council members. They had come barging into my office with red faces. Something had happened and they were unhappy, I had seen this happen many times to my father. Now it was my turn and I wasn't excited in the least.

"Kazekage-sama, cut out the smart words. This is serious!" the head of the council grumbled, walking up to one of the chairs in front of my desk and sitting down with a scowl. His aged, tan skin was looking leathery with his sunken in eyes. He hadn't slept last night, I could see stress had made this man look ill in his old age and not sleeping one night had consequences to his image.

I looked to the empty chair beside me. Abbi was out running some errands for me, how I wished she had waited till after the council decided to ruin my afternoon. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I looked to the paperwork in front of me for the irrigation system. It had come back for final reading and decision. Along with that, today I wanted to get on to solving the small amount of ninja problem, but now the Council was going to throw that out the window.

The last few days I hadn't felt like myself, talking and expressing myself out loud more than I ever had in all my life. Now that everything had calmed and I felt like myself again, I bit my tongue to keep from telling the old bags off. I kept my level head and looked at them. This whole village needed work and I was stuck being the one to do it.

"Kazekage-sama, the ambassador from the land of waves is coming tomorrow on a surprise diplomacy visit. It is important that we look strong and not economically weak to him, because if we do there will sure be war to break out against us. The ambassador is a vile, poisonous shark who thinks he's praying on a weak country." Reva, the head of council, hissed through his aged gums.

Letting go of my nose, I pressed my palms together and lacing my fingers together, resting my chin on my hand and looking to the eldest member. Baki crossed his arms and looked right at me as I took a deep breath. This man wanted me to drop everything I thought was needed to entertain some pompous, thick headed politician. I didn't do politics, I did what my country needed me to do and I had hoped it wouldn't come down to throwing a welcome wagon for someone who didn't matter to me.

"What do you want me to do?" I whispered through my lips, looking up to the 3 council members, then to Baki who kept his regal look about him.

"You need to entertain him like a guest. He's going to be staying one night only. We only need to keep him convinced that we're just the same, strong country as we have been. "

I let out a sigh, looking to the man and nodding. He smirked and stood up, his robes falling down and losing all the bunches it had gained when he sat down.

"Good, we'll leave the arrangements up to you and Abbi. Good day Kazekage-sama." Reva spoke, turning and marching out of the office. He didn't even bother to shut the door behind him. Baki stood there, looking me in the eye as I looked to the chair where Reva once sat. Then I looked up to him with a sigh and sat back.

"I'm sorry Gaara." I waved it off and leaned my chair back, closing my eyes. I now had to figure out how to entertain a pompous politician. I kept my eyes closed as I listened to Baki turn and leave the room, shutting the door.

I took another breath before going back to my paper work. If I could get this done, then maybe I could go down to the academy and help out.

Sunakagure had very few ninjas. Before my siblings and I started it, the only way a child became a ninja was to show up the day one of the jonnin gave the genin exams and hoped to pass. There was no class to teach children, there were no teachers at all, and the fewer genin we had, the fewer jonnin the country had. Father had come in hoping that I would make up for the lack of ninja. Now we had an 'academy' but it was weak and very little funded. The country was very poor; we owed Konoha large amounts of money for reparations, along with the country hidden in the mist for a war 10 years back. With no money, my country can't pay for ninjas, or even teachers, or even equipment to train average Ninja!

I ran my hands over my forehead and looked to the scroll. That's when a knock at the door sounded. I hadn't even been paying attention to the sounds around me, just focusing on somehow fixing my country. If this was the job Naruto wanted, I would have to talk him out of it.

"Come in" I growled low, rolling up the scroll. I would have Abbi read it over to make sure I was reading it right. My mind was compromised at the moment. Kankuro walked into the office with a giant box and a grin.

"Guess what I have in the box?"

"No." I growled, looking up at him.

"Aw, come on Gaara. You take the fun out of it. Just guess." He smirked, putting it in a chair in front of my desk, sitting down in Abbi's chair.

"You're going to be dead in the box if Abbi see's you." I spoke blankly as Kankuro jumped up and swiveled into a different chair with a sheepish grin. Abbi scared Kankuro, not the same way I once scared him, but she made him fear her wraith. The night of the party, he flirted with her not knowing who she was and slapped her on the read end. She didn't do anything that night, but the next day, she nailed him with a book as we were walking down the stair case. She did it so calmly, like it didn't affect her, but the sound it made against his skull made it seem like she meant to hurt him.

"Anyway… guess!" He grinned like a cat. His purple paint today were long, rigid pipe like designs, from his forehead to his chin.

"No." I huffed, looking at him with a slight glare. Kankuro flinched lightly before huffing and crossing his arms. He flinched less and less when I glared at him, he was getting used to the idea that I no longer wanted to kill anyone. Kankuro leaned over and opened the box and pulled out two wrapped meal boxes. Suddenly my stomach growled and he grinned, holding up his boxes.

"Food!"

"Thank you." I stated, taking the box he handed in my direction. He smirked before cracking his open. A giant bowl of curry rice and steamed vegetables laid in one compartment, then there were fish and meat slices, all grilled and spiced. He then pulled out two bottle of water and passed on to me on my desk.

"Well, dig in, I didn't get these for free for nothing!" Kankuro grinned. I rolled my eyes and dug into my food as my brother did. Taking a few sips of water, I looked out to the large window behind my desk, I let out a sigh.

"Oh… and have you seen the mailbox lately?" Kankuro piped up, swallowing some rice.

"Why?" I asked, looking to him as he grinned and pulled envelopes out of the box and dumped them on my desk. I eyed them then looked to Kankuro who was laughing silently and eating his steamed carrot slices.

"What are those?" I asked, pushing them around on my desk with my sand.

"Love-letters."

"What!" I coughed hard into my hand, trying to swallow the poor halibut that was caught in my throat. I coughed hard before looking to my brother holding onto the side of his chair, laughing hard while he put his food on the floor to keep from spilling.

"You heard me, those, my dear brother… are fan-love-letters…"

X-X-X-

I stood in my room in sleeping pants and a tunic, running my hands through my hair to de-stress, when I saw the light still on across the hall. Usually I would wash my face at night, change and go sit on my roof to think and breathe. But tonight, I noticed Abbi's light still on in her room. I knew she slept sooner or later, but it was midnight, we had stopped working around 10 for once. Why was she still up?

I opened my door to get a better look at her room when I heard the sound of sniffling. Then there was the sound of paper ripping, and I couldn't hold my feet still. I walked out of my room and stood in her doorway, my eyes catching her room for the first time. It wasn't as big as mine, but it was still large. She had her long queen bed against the wall with a silver metallic frame, open cream colored wall with picture frames here and there, a large book case, the top full of books, the bottom full of shoes. A large oak dresser and matching vanity matched the darker oak colored floor that decorated her room. My eyes looked up to a pale desert rose pattern blanket covering the bed that Abbi sat on.

She was in long, light pink pajama pants and a matching spaghetti strap tank top, her hair in a messy bun, her glasses on and tears covering her cheeks. Abbi looked up as she ripped the letter in her hand another time.

"Oh… Gaara…I…" She pushed herself up off her bed and shuffled over to her trashcan and stuffed the paper in the bin. When she turned, she began to wipe her eyes while walking back to her bed. I eyed her attempting to cover the fact she had been crying.

"Are you alright Gaara? Do you need something?" She asked, shifting all the papers on her bed before sitting down and motioning for me to sit down. She ran a thumb along her eyes to dry up any last minute tears.

"Why are you crying?" I blurted out. She looked at me before pulling her knees up to her chest. She looked at the ground as I found my way into her room and onto her bed beside her.

"Love…" She whispered, looking at me with sad eyes. "It sucks…" She grumbled before laying her head on her knees. I eyed her as she pulled off her glasses and put it on the bed side table above her bed.

"I wouldn't know." I whispered. I scooted onto the bed so I could sit Indian style with my back pressed against the metallic frame and the wall. She followed me and leaned back, looking to the ceiling with a sigh. She finally opened her eyes and looked at me with a weak smile.

"You're lucky then. Many people tell me it's better to have love and lost than to never love at all… But love… loving him… was the worst thing I could have done." She said, letting out a sigh. I didn't want to ask any more. Not that I wasn't curious who this man she regretted loving was, but I knew when someone didn't want to remember. Abbi didn't want to remember about this man at all. So I sighed with her and looked to her ceiling with her.

So, I changed the subject.

"Ambassador?" I asked, not wanting to ask the full question. She smiled and laughed lightly before groaning and running her hands over her face.

"I know we have to look strong to this guy, but he has damn good timing. Couldn't he given us more time? That would have been great…But I have to stay up all night getting a party for this guy ready, a welcoming comity, I have to find Neeko and get him to work on security detail for him, then you, so you two can be seen in public together. Then…" She stopped listing when I looked at her with a cocked brow.

"It's my job." I whispered, looking her over.

"And what do you know about creating a party for some stupid aristocrat?" She whispered back, smiling at me.

"Nothing." I sighed, looking up to the ceiling, "Council is going to drive me insane." I groaned and closed my eyes, rubbing my forehead. I could feel another headache coming on. But it stopped at a warm sensation on my shoulder. I opened my eyes and saw Abbi rubbing it with a sympathetic smile.

"Well, seeing as you don't sleep my lord Kazekage, would you enjoy helping me make stupid party plans?"

I nodded.


	6. Chapter 6

_About as Subtle as a **RHINO**_

A GaaraXOC Fanfiction, Gaara POV

* * *

><p>Chapter 6:<p>

"RUN KAZEKAGE-SAMA, RUN!" Was the only thing I heard as I darted from the crowd, dashing madly for my sand gourd to escape this horrible mass of people. I could feel my blood pumping for once as I jumped over a diving girl, grasped my gourd and disappeared in a whirlwind of sand. I avoided frantic hands at the last second. I opened my eyes to my office, Abbi sitting at my desk with a pack of papers and the ambassador sitting across from her, reading over some papers and material.

"Hello… Gaara?" Abbi questioned, putting the papers down. "Hold on Sir Karshi, I need to have a talk with my Kazekage.." Abbi smiled at the man before walking as calmly as she could. I was actually out of breath for once. This feeling was unusual and weird for me; I had never experienced this feeling before. When Abbi was out of eye shot of the ambassador, she grasped my bicep and dragged me back out the door and into the hall.

"What happened? Why are you panting? … Why is your robe torn?" She groaned, pulling up my sleeve to inspect it. I could see the frustration on her brow as she looked at the stains and holes from many grabbing fingers and hands. I gasped for breath before leaning my gourd up against the wall. My eyes darted this way and that before I looked to Abbi, who was pushing her glasses back up on the bridge of her nose.

"Fan…" I took a deep breath, "girls." I finished, putting my hands on my hips.

"Fan girls? What…please explain Gaara, I don't understand how a few teenage crushing girls could… do that!" She pointed to my hip. I raised my arms and looked to my own hips. There was a giant hole in my robes, my tunic pulled out of place to expose my torso to my hip. I scrunched up my brow and threw my hands down. Great! Absolutely, positively amazing! Poor Neeko, still stuck out in the mass. My eyes looked over Abbi's shoulder, attempting to see if he had escaped the girls.

He sacrificed himself for his country….

Abbi snapped her fingers in front of my face and I looked back at her.

"Gaara. Explain. Now" She whispered, looking suspiciously at the door then back to me. "The ambassador is in your office with only one ninja eye on him. I need to know what happened so he doesn't think your people maim and rip your clothing in public! Normal, strong centered countries don't try and kill their kages!" She hissed under her breath. I could see the stress and frustration weighing down on her. She hadn't slept at all last night; she stayed up with me that whole time, getting a gourmet menu for dinner, a small ball with all the higher ups and their families, make a new schedule for me.

"I think I can answer that."

I sighed, relieved to see Neeko dropping from the ceiling. He had an interesting Jutsu, he was able to transform and mold his body to intertwine with solid objects, to pass through them or become them, or hide in them. He could even do that to make a shield or a weapon.

"Neeko! You are covered in sand and dust and your shirt! Oh my, what happened!" Abbi stated as much in a hush as she could.

"We were coming back from the council meeting to make sure they knew what was happening this evening, when his fan girls swarmed us. They're like locust!" He growled, getting sand out of his hair as much as he could. Abbi frowned hard before looking at me.

"Well… how many? Should I be worried?" She asked.

"No." I whispered.

"Yes!" Neeko Growled.

I shot Neeko a look only to get Abbi looking at me with a worried look. I glowered at Neeko who bent over to get the sand out of his hood and mask while Abbi walked over to me and grabbed my arm.

"What did they say? Do? I need to know! Why does Neeko say I need to worry?" Abbi began to ramble. I looked at here with a cocked brow as she looked between me and the door that held the ambassador.

"Nothing. Do nothing. They're harmless." I whispered to her.

She let go of my arm, still watching me with her worried eyes. That's when the door to my office opened at the ambassador came walking out, looking to the scene before him. The Kazekage standing ruffled and wearing torn robes, his assistant attempting to keep her glasses up on her face while a ninja pulls off his sandle and lets sand seep out onto the stony floor.

"I am sorry to intrude, but I'm exhausted. I shall see myself to my room." The man grinned. I finally received a good look of the man. I had not talked with him face to face all day, he was been here being followed and waited on by Abbi and my ninja. I rushed around town talking to my own diplomats, getting information, reminding council of the ball, finding a cook to make the food on the list that Abbi had, make sure my staff knew what to do. This man had greasy, slimey, snake written all over him.

He had short cut brown hair, deep brown eyes with a long, crooked nose. His lips were crooned in a crooked smirk as he nodded to me before doing something completely despicable. He slapped Abbi across the rear as he went on his way.

Neeko and I went dead still, watching Abbi clench her hands and glare at the ground.

"Abbi…" I whispered.

She put up a finger, before taking in a deep breath and standing up straight, a contorted look on her face.

"He's only here for the night… He's only here for the night…." She whispered, calming herself down. Pushing her glasses harshly up her nose, Abbi turned to Neeko, a hand on her hips and breathing hard through her nose.

"Neeko, I have to get Gaara a new robe, please follow and inform me of what exactly happened with the fan girls. Please." She spoke through a fake, plastered smile and gritted teeth. Neeko eyed her before pulling on his mask over his mouth and putting his head band across his neck.

"Sure…" He stated. I looked to Abbi who joined her arm with mine without even a flinch and began to drag me away, Neeko in tow. I eyed her confused and suspicious. Did it really not bother her that he did as he pleased? It wasn't as if she could retaliate, that would be disrespectful of our country. But, was it really that easy to just put that away? How many times did guys harass my assistant?

"Don't worry." She whispered, not even looking in my direction. "I have a plan to get him back the minute he's no longer our worry." She winked at me from the corner of her eye. I scrunched my brow but walked with her up the stairs either way. I had never seen this side of Abbi. Most of the time was she professional and withdrawn. But ever since I saw her in tears last night, I began to see a human instead of my assistant. She cried like all humans do, she wanted revenge, she was sarcastic and cruel tongued when she was in the mood to be sassy. Temari said once at lunch that Abbi had cracked a joke with her at breakfast, talking about being in the kitchen and being a woman. It was strange. I had never truly thought about Abbi specifically.

"Now, Neeko. Please report more… how did this actually happen?"

"We were leaving the council building when a small girl screamed out lord Kazekage's name. Then they came running at us like a horde of locust, flying at us instantly. We didn't see the attack coming. They cried and claimed of being in love and holding up newspapers they wanted him to sign. Gaara was actually able to sign one before a girl grabbed his hand and his gourd. She attempted to run off with it when I told Gaara to run for his life."

I furrowed my brow and glared at the floor. It was far more dramatic than that. I felt fear for the first time in my life. I was unable to form a hand sign or get my feet under me as they dragged me into the mass of bodies. One girl grabbed my arm and tried to kiss me wherever she could, another grabbed at my private area. It was not as peaceful and cut dry as Neeko explained. He was throwing them off me before I had air to escape. Had those been enemy ninja, I would have died three times over.

"They grabbed me." I grumbled.

"Grabbed you? As in…." Abbi trailed off, looking at me. I looked back at her, watching the wheels in her head turn before her jaw dropped and looked to Neeko with a shocked expression. "Oh my…"

"They were savages." Neeko stated blankly, looking to the top of the hall. Two ninja appeared instantly, weapons at the ready. Neeko poked at his headband, giving them a nod and they nodded back, going back to a standing position. I was used to this action, Neeko and I always had to, as to make sure we weren't imposters.

Abbi walked right into my room before me, throwing open my closet by my bathroom and began to rifle through the clothing.

"Dinner will be in an hour or so, might as well dress you for it." She grumbled. Neeko looked at me then walked into my room and stood at the doorway. I finally entered my own room, shut the door behind Neeko and pulled off my robes. I had gotten used to the fact I would never be alone in my room anyway. I pulled off my tunic and turned to go into my bathroom to wash up.

"Might as well grab a shower, Gaara, I'll leave your clothes on the counter." Abbi stated, comparing this suit to the other.

"You're not staying?" I blurted out.

She looked to me before breaking out into a grin, "No. I've got to get ready too. Neeko can be in the bathroom too if you get lonely." She looked back to the clothes. Neeko stifled a snort as I looked between the both of them before heading for my bathroom. I was going to need a long, hot shower after the day I just had and the night I was about to have. I had stripped quickly and was in the hot water in seconds. I heard the door open, Abbi's constant heels clicking on the tile floor. I watched through the steamy textured glass as she left the clothes on the counter and left just as silently. I waited for her to leave completely. I heard the bedroom door open but then, she said something that made me glare at the shower.

"Make sure you didn't get cooties!" Abbi called into the bathroom.

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><p>Author's Notes:<p>

Muse: What doesn't kill you by Kelly clarkson

This is leading up to the ball where there is sure drama, mayhem, and confusion for our new Kazekage Gaara. You see some personality and life coming into Abbi and Neeko here too. Trust me, they both have their own personality, and this won't be the last of the slime ball Ambassador!


	7. Chapter 7

_About as Subtle as a **RHINO**_

A GaaraXOC Fanfiction, Gaara POV

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><p>Chapter 7:<p>

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, I would like to make this quick and simple. We all know we want to get to chatting up our friends and eating the amazing food our chefs have created. I know my mouth is watering." Abbi paused for laughter, smiling as the guests took the joke and chuckled a bit. I stood beside her as she stood peacefully. She was far better at speeches than me, atleast the ones that didn't matter. I watched the officials in the crowd, all smiling up at her with their wine glasses full and nodding at her words, including, the disgusting, rude, moronic ambassador.

"Kazekage?" I looked to Neeko standing behind my right shoulder, "How is your arm?"

"It's fine," I whispered, looking to him from my peripheral, "Did you get all the sand from your clothes?" He was inquiring for earlier, when the fan girls attacked, they pulled my arms. It felt like they were trying to pull me apart and I had said something to him about my arms hurting. I didn't want him to know they burned and ached, for I worried that Abbi would overhear us over her short speech.

"Yes, finally." He grumbled. I nodded and looked to the ambassador. He was slimy and a disturbed soul. When everyone was arriving in the ball room, he was greeting people, pinching women bottoms and insulting the officials. None of the council will say a word, but I know that tomorrow I would be getting an earful. I would never hear the end of this. Abbi finished and raised her glass, the crowd followed suit. I raised mine, giving Abbi a nod who took a sip and stepped to my side.

"Now, go chat up the council, I've got the lords, Neeko… are the arrangements made?" Abbi looked to Neeko, pushing her glasses up on her nose. I turned and began to walk away. I didn't want to know anything, if I knew what they were planning, than I was an accomplice. I disliked this ambassador but that didn't mean he deserved the wrath of Neeko and his army of shadow accomplises. I would rather listen to the head of council babble on about the water ways of my father's reign than know what I was allowing my assistant and bodyguard get away with.

I walked along with the crowd, my wine glass firm in my hand. It didn't have wine in it, it was just fresh grape juice with a slight carbonation, so it would look like the wine everyone was having, but I didn't have the nasty, drunk side effect. Apparently, far too many drunken Kazekage accidents at balls took away my ability to drink with everyone in public. Not that I minded, alcohol burned my throat and made my stomach churn, I'd rather have my expensive grape juice.

"Kazekage! Come here!" Biyuu, one of the council members called. He waved from his small group. His wife, Lady Neea (the only woman on the council and able to tell Chiyo off), Chiyo, and Ebizo all stood together. Compared to Neea, Chiyo, and Ebizo, Biyuu and his wife seemed young, child like almost. Biyuu had to be my favorite of all the council, for he spoke the least, was always smiling, and often was the romantic. I strode to the group, only to look to Chiyo who was scowling as always.

"Kazekage-sama, what is that bumbling fool doing here and why does he get a ball for himself? No one even likes that fool!" Chiyo hissed, stabbing a finger in the Ambassador's direction. I slid myself in front of her finger and looked to the elderly woman.

"It's rude to point sister." Ebizo whispered to the woman who crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"Stubborn bat! Kazekage-sama doesn't have the choice, that fool threatens the sanity of the village if he even sniffs a flaw. He'll crawl back to his hole of a country and call a war to take our country from us." Lady Neea growled at Chiyo. I chuckled lightly before looking to Biyuu and his wife, putting my hand out to her. I had only seen pictures of her in Biyuu's wallet when he would flash it to everyone. He was head over heels in love with his wife and more than bursting with joy when he announced she was pregnant. And she was pregnant, extremely pregnant. The blond woman let go of her stomach with one hand to shake hands with me and a giant smile.

"Hello, My names Jila, I'm Biyuu's wife." She grinned. Biyuu held his arm around her proudly, like a kid showing off his best work of art to the class, not wanting it to break either. He looked about ready to faint and explode at the same time.

"Is it heavy?" I asked without thinking. The group went extremely silent and stared at me. Even Chiyo and Lady Neea shut their mouths to stare at me with agape mouths. I looked to the woman, afraid I had offended her. Only, she broke out into a giggle, holding her stomach again, Biyuu chuckling with her.

"Yes, Kazekage-sama. They're very heavy, but heavy babies are healthy babies, my mom always says." She grinned, pushing her long locks over her shoulders before returning her hands to her bulging stomach.

"They're?" I questioned, looking to Biyuu. "You never said you were having more than one." I stated with interest.

"Just found out this morning, Kazekage-sama, I'm having twins! Two baby girls." He spoke nearly breathless. Jila giggled and patted Biyuu on the chest. I nodded with a small smile on my lips. I could feel it on my face as I watched the two look at each other. The emotions in their eyes, it was almost electric, they looked so happy.

"Excuse me…" I whispered, slipping from them towards the crowd. I felt sick in my stomach, my chest was panging like there was a heavy weight on it, pressing harder and harder on my chest. I took a deep breath, trying to get the weight of whatever was bothering me off my chest. Was it the way Biyuu and Jila looked at each other? I gulped hard before taking a swig of my expensive juice.

"Kazekage-sama?" I turned to see the Ambassador looking down at me with his gigantic smirk that was both irritating and creepy. He had to be the first man to ever give me a shivering feeling in my spine. I looked at him with as much indifference as I could.

"Ambassador-sama?" I questioned back.

"This gathering slash ball is very entertaining, but I've been meaning to talk to you alone for a while." He grinned at me. "I wanted to get your insight on a topic of my interest…" He trailed off.

He was being vaguer than Kankuro is when he's building a new puppet. I eyed him with a cocked brow, and watched him as his eyes looked to some of the lords and ladies in the room.

"Now, as I hear it, you had an incident where rioters killed innocent lives while trying to kill you. Care to comment on that?" He asked. I eyed him and gritted my teeth but kept my lips shut. So he knew about the riots. I had kept that incident very quiet but the village talked, he could have heard it from anyone. I took in a soft breath through my nose before nodding.

"Yes, a few of my villagers were intoxicated and were arguing over my becoming Kazekage. But that incident was dealt with and handled. Why are you asking?" I questioned, flipping the conversation back on him. I didn't want him to be the one asking the questions. When a slimy snake like he was in charge of the conversation, nothing good could come of it… I had to keep him from being in charge of the conversation.

I saw the muscles in his face tighten. He had hoped to get more from me, but he couldn't say it, he knew better. Oh the game of politics. One wrong word, one wrong thought and your life could be tarnished and everything you say can be twisted to be as evil as the public wants you. It's a constant trivial battle.

"I was just listening to some of your council men and they were worried. I was just hoping it wasn't something the other Kage's need to worry about." He spoke eloquently. He had been in this battle far longer than I had, he had mastered the art of snake speak. I looked right at him.

"The other kage's have no business in the business of my country. My people and my country are safe and in control as long as I'm kage, and if the other kage worry for my safety, they may ask me themselves. Not send a slithering worm into my country to stir up trouble and irritate my staff." I stated and walked smoothly away from the man standing awe-struck.

Not the second after I said those words did the regret hit hard. I had just lost. I looked to Abbi who was schmoozing an elderly lord about the new academy Temari was in charge of, when her eyes looked to me instinctively. It took half a second for her smile to falter then go back as she looked to the lord and excused herself. I watched in silence as she crossed the floor to be in front of me. The music and chatter of everyone around us became incredibly loud. I grasped her arm like I did the first night we met, and dragged her towards the door. She kept pace as I opened and shut the large oak doors as inconspicuously as possible.

"Gaara, what happened, why do you look like you're going to faint?" She rambled, tugging me to look at her.

"I called him a worm…" I whispered, looking to the floor.

"Who? The head of council? Neeko?..." I looked at her dead in the eyes, just as they went wide and her mouth fell. Her right hand landed itself infront of her gape lips.

"No, no, no… Gaara, please tell me your joking…" Abbi mumbled into her fingers. I shook my head and looked to the doors with a sigh. I was definitely going to get something horrible for that.

"Why? Why did you call him a worm… You only had to last a couple more hours and he would be gone!" She moaned, her head leaning back and her eyes closed. I watched my assistant push her glasses up on her nose and groan again. "Okay, what else did you say to him?"

"I told him; the other kage's have no business in the business of my country. My people and my country are safe and in control as long as I'm kage, and if the other kage worry for my safety, they may ask me themselves. Not send a slithering worm into my country to stir up trouble and irritate my staff…" I trailed off, watching her place a palm on her forehead and let out a groan.

"Gaara, this is the first stupid thing you've done… Okay, it's not that back, I can probably fix it… I just… ugh…" Abbi put her clutch purse in my hand and looked to her dress. It was a simple black, sleeves dress. It was flowey and moved when she did, and matched her sharp, lacey heels. She adjusted her dress a bit before fixing her heels and ruffling out her hair. "I really like being all dressed up sometimes, but under the circumstances, I'd rather be doing anything but this tonight." She grumbled to herself.

"I don't believe anyone but the ambassador is enjoying themselves… other than Biyuu and his wife, of course." I stated, handing her back her clutch. Abbi grinned and nodded.

"They're so good together; they're just too cute to be real." Abbi joked. I turned and grabbed the doors and opened them, attempting to get the color back to my face. When I said Biyuu's name, the harsh weight on my chest returned but I was going to ignore it, because Abbi was already watching me with a hawk's eyes. I didn't need her thinking I needed medical attention along with psychiatric help.

"Go talk with anyone but the ambassador, I'll see what I can do about his worm status." Abbi laughed, patting my arm before strutting in the direction of the offended. He deserved to be called much worse, but I wasn't going to say much else to that man. I had already gotten in trouble once already; I didn't need every other country hating me- that would put a damper on diplomacy and trade. I made my way to the side of Kankuro and Temari talking to a lord. The elder man nodded at me and walked away.

I sighed and ran fingers through my hair as I looked to my siblings who were snickering.

"What?" I growled.

"I heard you called him a worm." Kankuro snickered. I rolled my eyes and hung my head, taking another swig of my expensive grape juice.

"Woah there, Gaara. Don't want to get drunk there." Temari blurted out.

"I can't even get drunk, this is just carbonated Grape juice." I grumbled.

"That sucks… so you were actually sober when you insulted the ambassador? Brother, have I expressed lately how much I love you." Kankuro laughed, patting me on the shoulder. I swatted his hand and glared at him. This night wasn't ending like I wanted and it wasn't even half over yet. How I wished I could leave, but the moment I thought of escaping, another council member waved me over.

"Go have fun." Temari snickered.

"Shut it." I hissed.

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><p>Author's notes: This is the reason Gaara hates people! XD Anywho, here is the long awaited update. Hope yal enjoy it, sorry for the wait, had super-duper writers block.<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

_About as Subtle as a **RHINO**_

A GaaraXOC Fanfiction, Gaara POV

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><p>Chapter 8:<p>

The morning the Ambassador left brought rejoice through every person that passed through my office. They were all congratulating Abbi on a great party, Neeko on his perfect Security force, and only laughed about my comment to the man. To say the least, I felt twenty times happier than everyone else to have the man out of my hair. I already had enough work as it was, without a dirty, scheming rat watching my every move.

Abbi sat in her seat with her list of things I had to accomplish in that day, Neeko munched away at his sandwich across from my desk, and the curiosity finally got the better of me.

"What did you actually end up doing to the Ambassador to keep him quiet and to make him leave faster than usual this morning?" I asked with a slight groan. I didn't want to hear the real story, but at the same time I needed to know. If the Council was going to yell at anyone for the misfortune of the ambassador, unfortunately, it would be me.

"Oh, don't even worry about him." Neeko grinned with his cheeks full of food. "Let's say, we sent him off with a goodbye basket, a little earlier than expected this morning."

I turned my head to Abbi who smiled, but her eyes stayed on her parchment.

"You don't have anything to say for this?" I asked.

"My lips are all but sealed. If you want to know what became of the Ambassador, you must ask Kankuro." I froze for a moment as I looked from my Assistant to the window behind me. The carriage where the Ambassador was escorted to his home land, was just barely passing the gates.

Only, as I saw the glint of the carriage sink into the small opening in the wall for travelers, I saw something I didn't want to. It looked like a puppet on the back of the carriage, and it looked like it was holding something in its hands.

"A puppet?" I turned to Neeko who grinned like a cat.

"Oh… it's better than that."

"But what is best if the list of events for today!" Abbi interrupted, a giant smile plastered on her face. She obviously wanted to change the subject as she pulled out a small slip of paper and handed it to me. I took it from her and read over the paper with a sink in my once, relatively, happy mood.

"I have a meeting with the council." I mumbled and stood from my chair. Abbi stood with me and waved to my full security guard. Once a good morning, turned sour, by the faces of the men and women who didn't want to do their jobs. The moment I entered the room, Abbi placed a small folder into my hand and waved for me to sit. She passed out folders as Council men and woman filled into their seats.

Now close to noon, I begged for the meeting to end soon. However, my luck would not be so. The council argued over every single thing that happened the night before. They bickered over my words to the man, the attack of females on me, everything I did was horrible.

Abbi sat in the corner, she took notes but it didn't seem to be about the meeting. Once I leaned away from the heated debate of who should cater the next event, and found her doodling. She pulled back so I couldn't see the whole thing, but what I did see was tiny stick figure men with big mouths and one small hedgehog.

"Is that me?" I whispered to my quiet assistant. She grinned, looking up at me through her glasses, before she continued to doodle.

"Is that who?" I jerked around to the council who were silent and looking to my direction.

"Is that…" I panicked. I needed something good to say. They all looked incredibly pissed I had no intention of listening to anything they were saying. Bored out of my mind, I almost lost track of their conversation. "what you want me to be? A man who throws parties to entertain guests who mean my country harm, or a man who stands up for his people" I looked over my shoulder quickly to see Abbi smile and nod approvingly.

I just saved my ass from 5 million complaints of my 'too young to understand'. The council seemed to ponder on the words for a moment, I sank into my chair with a sigh of relief. My fingers ran through my hair for a moment before they rested at the base of neck.

"This country needs a Kazekage who will take charge." They answered. I pushed myself up from my seat and nodded.

"Then let me take charge. Good day." With that I turned and walked with my head up, and headed right out the door. I knew Abbi followed in silence as I went straight to the resturaunt I always ate Lunch at. I strut down the hallway, attempting to keep my stride steady as the hunger and tired feelings washed over my body.

"Gaara."

I turned to Abbi who smiled at me and caught up to me. The sound of her flats against the marble were the only other sound in the hallway. The moment she was next to me, we walked in silence towards the front door. Without having to be told, Neeko joined us at the base of the stairs.

"Well, I should go back to the office." Abbi spoke, but I stopped her with a hand on her elbow.

"You should eat with us."

"Well, with him. I'm stuffed like a pig." Neeko stated with his arms crossed. Abbi rolled her eyes at Neeko, but she looked at me. I held onto her elbow, only in hopes that maybe I could convince her of a day off. Something that didn't seem to come with this job, unfortunately to me.

"We have a lot of work to do."

"Which can be done later." I added with a pleading look. I could see her cave in her eyes as she sighed and moved back into the small line next to me.

"Only because I know you won't come back if I don't make you." She teased as she walked forward and out the front doors. Neeko rolled his eyes but stayed by my side as we followed her out into the town.

X-X-X-

"How was the ambassador's trip?" Temari snickered as I lay on the floor of our library. Kankuro sat with a puppet and a screw driver. I even convinced Abbi, for my health, that we should cut down on the work today. I think the event the night before convinced her more than my actual words. Plus, I know she was drained, and the moment we were done, I watched her collapse on her bed from my room.

Kankuro looked up and grinned.

"Oh… it was a bang!"

"I'm going to lose my job… or my mind." I groaned into the sewn rug.

"Oh don't complain, you lost your mind long ago." Temari snickered as she tucked her legs under her. I turned my head to look at her. I pushed my arms under my chest as I clambered to sit down instead of lying on the carpet.

"How did you get the whip holder to let you off easy?" Temari changed the subject quickly. Eyes rolled, I tucked my arms into my lap. The job I thought I had was nothing like the one I had now. It was like a magical spell was torn apart and the reality of the stress ridden job I had revealed after I was awarded it. It wasn't a chance of a lifetime, it was the death of a soul.

"Aren't you done with the hate on Abbi, already?" Kankuro snorted.

"I don't hate her, I'm suspicious of her. Your little brother is spending all his time with a woman who is supposed to tell him all he needs. You should be weary of everything yourself. We're not just Jonnin anymore, we're the Kazekage's right and left hands. Everything is different and I don't want anyone to hurt Gaara."

"She's safe." I answered quietly as I ran both my hands through my hair and laid back against the carpet again. With a sigh, my thoughts went back to Abbi and the work I had for tomorrow. We were working on the academy and tomorrow we would go out to official invite Konoha for aid. Specifically, Naruto, Lee, and Sakura, but if they had any sugestions I would be open to. Abbi was all for the idea, but we were concerned.

Sending the invitation by hawk, especially with the ambassador in the wind and very pissed, it could be intercepted.

So at lunch, when we spoke of it again, she said I should go myself as a sign of confidence in my country.

I told her to come with.

"So when do you leave tomorrow?" Kankuro asked.

"The butt-crack of dawn." I grumbled, my hands over my face. I heard the snickering of my siblings but my only complaint was the long travel away from home. It would be an interesting trip.

Abbi, Temari, Neeko, and I all on our way to Konoha.

"And you just leave the council to me." Kankuro laughed only to cry out in pain when the sound of a book hit him, then the floor.

"Don't you touch them! They already are uptight, down right assholes, don't give them another reason to be mean!"

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><p>Author's notes: Damn, that took me forever to get out. Sorry about the wait.<p>

Tell me what cha think!


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